Diane Pearson, who worked at Transworld Publishers for almost 40 years, died August 15, the Bookseller reported. She was 85. A senior editor from 1964 to 2002, she was honored in 1994 with the British Book Award for Editor of the Year and served as president of the Romantic Novelists' Association from 1986 to 2011. As an author, Pearson's novels include The Marigold Field and its sequel, Sarah Whitman; Csardas and The Summer of the Barshinskeys.
Larry Finlay, managing director at Transworld, said Pearson "had one of the keenest eyes in the business, right across the literary spectrum. Not only did she build a market-leading list of women's saga writers that included Iris Gower, Elvi Rhodes, Susan Sallis and Ruth Hamilton, she also brought to Transworld Terry Pratchett with The Colour of Magic in 1984, Joanna Trollope with A Village Affair in 1990 and Kate Atkinson with her debut in 1995, Behind the Scenes at the Museum, which went on to win the overall Whitbread (now Costa) Prize. Di also worked with Jilly Cooper for over 20 years.... Diane Pearson is an integral part of the Transworld story, and hers is a legacy which will burn brightly for years to come."